Why Is Missouri In The SEC?

[TrueOrange]

I'd say TV market and at one point they had an exciting brand of offense under Pinkel. But since then, not sure exactly? I guess the SEC would like some of those Big 12 teams to join to expand the conference?

Other than Texas and Oklahoma, no there’s not really anyone else the conference would want or care for.

 

[andywilson001]

I’ve been asking this since they joined. I don’t care what their record is or how good they are. They are not a cultural fit. They’re not Southern. I’ve been to a couple games up there and it does not feel like an SEC game at all. It was literally just a money move by the SEC to expand into the STL/KC TV market.

 

[ButchPlz]

All this TV market stuff is laughable. Mizzou isn't a draw in those markets at all. Those are pro sports towns.

Mizzou in the SEC is a waste.

 

[ArmchairQB]

It was initially believed that Mizzou was heading to the Big Ten. They are a member of the American Association of Universities (AAU). Every current member of the Big Ten is also a member of the AAU, except Nebraska. The Big Ten commissioner (at the time) said AAU membership was an important part of being in the Big Ten. USC and UCLA are also members of the AAU. For future Big Ten expansion - Oregon, Washington, and Stanford are also members,

Their AAU membership gives the academic profile of the SEC a big boost. The SEC members are Mizzou, A&M, Florida and Vandy, well and Texas too when they come over.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I'll never understand why so many always bring up West Virginia. It's a tiny market and we have enough hillbillies in this conference.

 

[TartanTurff]

They are a founding member.

Vanderbilt remains the smallest school by enrollment in the SEC and the only private school remaining in the conference, they were a founding member school, not sure if there are provisions to remove member schools or not,

Sewanee, Georgia Tech and Tulane were all also charter members of the SEC in 1932, Georgia Tech and Tulane would have crawled back to the SEC not so long ago, given the riches of the conference, but now the invitations are going to the big state schools not the urban universities or the private schools, at one point in time membership was capped at 16 schools, which will be met in a couple of years, wouldn't expect it to get much larger than that unless the ACC or the Big 12 were to simply collapse along the way.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

All this TV market stuff is laughable. Mizzou isn't a draw in those markets at all. Those are pro sports towns.

Mizzou in the SEC is a waste.

It's not remotely laughable, because going after a big market isn't because Missouri is or is not a draw, it's to mark it as an SEC market. And it's still way better that a market like West Virginia. WV to the SEC would have been a waste.

 

[ButchPlz]

It's not remotely laughable, because going after a big market isn't because Missouri is or is not a draw, it's to mark it as an SEC market. And it's still way better that a market like West Virginia. WV to the SEC would have been a waste.

I don't disagree. But the Carolinas are a better fit all around. Or, hell, even up into Virginia. VT would have been killer for the DC metro market. It dwarfs Maryland up here.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

I don't disagree. But the Carolinas are a better fit all around. Or, hell, even up into Virginia. VT would have been killer for the DC metro market. It dwarfs Maryland up here.

I would have rather had VT than Missouri, but I think Virginia and VT are kind of attached at the hip. Or at least they were back in 2011.

 

[ArmchairQB]

Surprising to me a bit maybe, but there does seem to be a non-athletic, non-TV market component to expansion. We had two AAU schools: Florida and Vandy. We've added Missouri, Texas A&M, and soon Texas. Our universities with the biggest endowments used to be Vandy and Florida. Texas, A&M and Mizzou are 1, 2, and 5 now - Vandy's down to 3rd.

Say we go nuts and decide to expand again into some kind of a super conference. If we hang onto geography at all, and try to track with that above, we'd try to rip the heart out of the ACC and take UNC, Duke and Virginia. All three are AAU members, Virginia and Duke have massive financial endowments, and they're TV markets we currently don't have.

 

[ArmchairQB]

(oof, quoted instead of edited)

 

[loservol]

Mizzou probably wakes up every morning asking themselves the same question.

 

[NighthawkVol]

Because they’re a founding member and they make the conference look good academically. They’re also decent in some sports other than football.

Yep. If you remove football from the equation, they're actually a decent Athletics Program. But football is the cash cow, so it matters more that they suck at football.

 

[Jeff Clark]

Yep. If you remove football from the equation, they're actually a decent Athletics Program. But football is the cash cow, so it matters more that they suck at football.

Yeah Vanderbilt has pretty much sucked at football since 1935.

 

[branchvol]

Why did the SEC not select West Virginia or another school to join along with Texas A&M when they expanded in 2012?

I do not see what Missouri brings to this conference.

U musta forgotten the 50-17 pile driving mizzo gave us during the doooley yrs

 

[JoeMiltonsAgent]

ACC jacked up their exit fees to 20 million.

The SEC had no interest in WVU based on previous posts ( lack of eyeballs watching the games).

They had to add someone to even it out with the Aggies so I guess Missouri was their best viable alternative.

 

[Probably_in_Class]

I lived in Raleigh between '99 and 2016. NC State is in Raleigh and it's a big school with a huge fan base. I always wondered why NC State never made the climb as one of the top football programs in the ACC (such as Clemson).

NC State is larger than Duke and slightly larger than UNC in terms of student body, but of course you need to look at athletic department spending to see where the priorities lie. The article below sheds some insight. Short answer: The priority in the area is baskeball.

A look at NC State’s recruiting spending for football and men’s basketball - Backing The Pack

Ya, I know it's a pretty big school, but nationally, UNC and Duke are significantly larger brands. This is just my personal perspective, but I even consider Wake to be a bigger national brand than NCState. What I was mostly trying to say is I don't think NCState adds much to the SEC and would be way down my list to add.

Is the fanbase really that big? I feel like I know a "fan" or 3 for almost everyone, but I don't know a single NCState fan.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Get rid of Ark, AnM, Mizzou and don't pick up Ok or TU, then pick up Clemson, FL State or Miami and West Virginia


Make the SEC, The Southeastern Conference again

 

[VolCalls]

To keep the Big Ten from owning the St. Louis and KC TV markets.

It was TV driven but the Big Ten already has a huge chunk of the St. Louis market due to Illinois. Tons of Illini fans/alums in the St. Louis area.

 

[mattdingus2002]

That’s almost an understatement.

Metropolitan St. Louis has a larger population than the entirety of West Virginia; metropolitan Kansas City has a larger population than the entirety of West Virginia; heck, metropolitan Nashville has a larger population than the entirety of West Virginia.

WVU has a lot of fans in southwestern PA

 

[Andrew8210]

Get rid of Ark, AnM, Mizzou and don't pick up Ok or TU, then pick up Clemson, FL State or Miami and West Virginia


Make the SEC, The Southeastern Conference again

West Virginia is near Pittsburgh. How is that a good fit geographically for the SEC ?

 

[stumps]

My biggest complaint is their stupid high school stadium. If you're going to join the SEC... it should be required that your stadium meets minimum requirements... and no stupid rock piles in the endzones...

 

[VAVol85]

Because Vandy needs someone they can hope to beat occasionally?

 

[arkyvol]

I don't like strip mines.

 

[Pappy]

Ya, I know it's a pretty big school, but nationally, UNC and Duke are significantly larger brands. This is just my personal perspective, but I even consider Wake to be a bigger national brand than NCState. What I was mostly trying to say is I don't think NCState adds much to the SEC and would be way down my list to add.

Is the fanbase really that big? I feel like I know a "fan" or 3 for almost everyone, but I don't know a single NCState fan.

Pappy here, I went to State late 60's - early 70's... now you know one!